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Ex-Steeler's player loses bid for state disability benefits over on-field injury

Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Football

Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham, is mobbed by teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Baltimore Ravens, during second half action at M&T Stadium in Baltimore Sunday December 2, 2012. CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News

A former Pittsburgh Steelers player has lost a bid to secure state worker's compensation disability payments for an on-field injury that he claimed ended his NFL career nearly a decade ago.

Ainsley T. Battles, a one-time defensive back and special teams member, suffered that injury when he tore his left hamstring during the first game of the 2004-05 NFL season.

Battles claimed he should receive disability payments because the injury cut his speed and agility to the point that no other NFL team would sign him after the Steeler's didn't renew his contract in 2005.

The state Workers' Compensation Appeal Board disagreed and on Thursday the Commonwealth Court upheld that board's denial, siding with the Steelers, which had contested Battles' compensation claim.

The crux of the Commonwealth Court ruling, outlined by Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, is that Battle didn't prove that his injury has kept him out of the NFL. She noted, for example, that he was medically cleared to play in the league after the Steelers paid for his surgery and physical rehabilitation.

Battles, who now teaches social studies and coaches high school track in Georgia, made the rounds of the NFL before signing with the Steelers in 2004.

The Steelers signed him as a free agent safety out of Vanderbilt University for the 2000-01 season, but he was cut at the end of that season. He played for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2001 to 2003, was cut, then played for the Buffalo Bills before being released March 2004.

Battles received a one-year contract when he signed with the Steelers again for the 2004-05 season.

After he was injured, the Steelers paid for his surgery and kept paying for his rehab, even after the team decided not to renew his contract. He was paid $205,000, the amount his contract called for in the event of a season-ending injury, plus $50,000 in severance, Leavitt noted.

In arguing for disability compensation, Battles claimed his hamstring injury doomed his career as a football player. Before his injury his 40-yard dash time was 4.6 seconds, he noted, while afterward it was 4.89 seconds.

He testified during a hearing in the case that his ability to run, change directions, make a tackle and throw blocks had been diminished to the point where he was unemployable in the NFL. He said he couldn't make the Nashville Kats arena football team in 2006, and his agent wasn't able to interest the Seattle Seahawks in taking him on.

An orthopedic surgeon who testified on Battles' behalf said Battles' hamstring had been "torn from the bone" and that his leg would never perform the way it had before the injury.

However, the Steelers' head orthopedic surgeon testified that he had cleared Battles to play pro football without any medical restrictions. One of the team's assistant athletic trainers also said Battles' rehab was successful.

Kevin Colbert, the team's director of football operations, testified that the Steelers didn't re-sign Battles because another, better player was available.

He said three other safeties were on the roster when Battles was signed in 2004 - Troy Polamalu, Chris Hoke and Mike Logan. Russell Stuvaints was hired to replace Battles after his injury, Colbert said.

When Logan was injured, he was replaced by Tyrone Carter, who was re-signed in 2005 instead of Battles because he was a better player, Colbert testified. He said the Steelers might have re-signed Battles if Carter had signed with another team.

Colbert said Battles' times in the 40 had no impact on the decision regarding whether to keep him on the team, since players aren't timed in the dash once they've made the active roster.

In the Commonwealth Court ruling, Leavitt found that Battles isn't owed disability benefits because, although he sustained a work injury, "he failed to prove that his work injury caused him to experience a loss of earnings."

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